


Alone Together

by CrypticCravings (Sekaiinokoi)



Series: Adrinette Month 2017 [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette Month, Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng, F/M, Friendship Development, I guess there's mild angst, Identity Reveal, accidental reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-22 19:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9622562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sekaiinokoi/pseuds/CrypticCravings
Summary: When Cat Noir is injured, and Ladybug loses him in the battle, Marinette falls into Hawkmoth’s hands. Adrien faces his biggest challenge yet as he faces off with the bravest, strongest girl he knows.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 9 of Adrinette Month, the theme is Akumatized. This fic is much more friendship development than romantic development. It was named for Alone Together by Fall Out Boy. I hope you enjoy it!

That akuma had been a rough one. Cat Noir had had to run off before the end of the fight to tend to his injuries so that he wouldn't be in the way for Ladybug. Fortunately, she had been able to handle the fight on her own, and the miraculous cure came shortly after, restoring Cat Noir to full health. 

Unfortunately, his transformation ran out only minutes later, leaving him unable to return to Ladybug's side. Adrien wasn't sure how he was going to get word back to her that he was ok, but he needed to figure out how, and quickly.

* * *

 

Marinette was worried out of her mind. It had taken her too long to use her lucky charm and Cat Noir had gotten caught in the crossfire. Normally he got back to her soon once he was restored to normal, but that Akuma was way more violent than their other ones had been. Cat had been seriously hurt, and Ladybug sent him off to take care of himself.

She couldn't get the color of his blood out of her mind. 

If she didn't find him soon, make sure he was okay, she didn't know what she would do, but she couldn't find him as Marinette. 

"Don't worry, Marinette," Tikki said, trying to soothe her, "I'm sure Cat Noir is alright. Your Miraculous Ladybug should have healed him."

"I've never seen him that hurt before, Tikki. What if he couldn't get to safety? What if he's still bleeding?" Marinette started to crumble in on herself. "It's not supposed to be like this, Tikki. Hawkmoth's akumas aren't normally like this. What if I couldn't heal him? What if he's not okay? It's all my fault!"

Marinette fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself as sobs ripped through her. The long buried worries that she wasn’t good enough began to rise in her again. If she couldn't keep her partner safe while Hawkmoth became more powerful,  how could she ever hope to keep Paris safe?

Tikki tried her best to comfort Marinette, but to no avail.

Neither of them noticed a small, black butterfly flutter up to the ribbons in Marinette's hair.

* * *

 

Adrien made his way back to the scene of the attack as quickly as he could, but there was no sign of Ladybug anywhere. 

He cursed under his breath. "I'm going to have to call her, Plagg. Let me find you some cheese so that I can trans--"

His thought was cut off by an ear piercing wail a couple of blocks away. Adrien cursed again. Did Hawkmoth not know how to give it a rest? 

Or maybe that was one of his new strategies. Hit them with as many akuma as possible until Ladybug and Cat Noir couldn't fight it anymore and just gave up.  
It wasn't going to happen today, though. 

Adrien ran towards the noise, looking for any shop that might be selling cheese.   
What he saw when he rounded the corner stopped him dead in his tracks. 

"Marinette?"

Before him, hovering about ten feet off the ground was an akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her skin was pale pink, and her short pigtails had grown about twenty inches longer and were an exaggerated, royal blue, held back by even longer pink ribbons. She wore a pink and red high-low dress that looked as though it was made out of rice paper, and would fall apart at the most gentle touch. Her feet were bare, and her lips were bright, cherry red. What had Adrien worried the most was her "mask". Most akumatized victims wore an actual mask, but Marinette's looked like a smudge of black makeup, as if she had been crying while wearing black eye makeup. It was smeared across both of her eyes, and the bridge of her nose. It dripped down her cheeks in heavy streams. 

Adrien had seen Marinette upset before, but she had never been upset enough to be akumatized. She was always so upbeat and optimistic. What could have possibly happened to upset her this much?

Adrien had to work quickly. Ladybug probably had gotten wind of the new akuma by then, and was probably recharging her kwami. If Adrien could hold Marinette off for just a few minutes, Ladybug could come take over, and he could find a way to transform himself. 

"Plagg, do you think you can get your own cheese this time?"

"Kid, what do you think you're about to do," Plagg's voice was guarded with concern. 

"I think there's a cheese store over there. The owners should have evacuated by now. Just leave this money on the counter and recharge. Be back here in ten minutes. That should be plenty of time for LB to get here and take over."

Plagg gave him a suspicious look before nodding and flitting off in the direction Adrien indicated. 

Adrien returned his focus to Marinette. 

She was using bolts of long, silken fabric to upend buildings, almost like she was looking for something.

"Marinette!" Adrien called, running towards her.

Her head whipped around, eyes wide. When they fell on him, though, her expression fell. Her face went from disappointment to anger in only a matter of seconds. "I'm not Marinette, anymore. I'm Seamstress, and I need to find him. Don't get in my way."

Marinette shot her hand out, and several strands of thread unraveled from the tips of her fingers, brushing Adrien out of the way. She pressed forward, using her ribbons to uproot trees and tip cars. When she didn't find what she was looking for, she let out another wail. 

The cry rattled windows, and shook the earth below Adrien's feet. He didn't know who she'd lost or why she was so upset, but he had to do something. Seamstress was going to turn the entirety of Paris upside down. 

"Seamstress, come talk to me, please!" Adrien chased after her. "Who are you looking for? Maybe I can help."

Seamstress whipped around to face him, her mask running further with tears. "You think you can help? I couldn't even help! I was supposed to look after him! I was supposed to make sure he came out of everything safe and sound. That's my job! To set things right! And I failed! So how do you think you could possibly help?"

Adrien winced at the piercing sound of her cries. "I don't know what happened, Seamstress, but if we can find who you're looking for, maybe we can make everything right together."

"No. I have to do this myself." The ribbons in her hair whipped around her body, then lengthened to wrap around Adrien and lift him from the ground. He wriggled around a bit, trying to break loose, but to no avail. "He was my best friend, and I let him down."

Adrien scrambled for an idea, then remembered something Ladybug had told him the first time Cat Noir had worked with Marinette. "What if we wait for Ladybug? You're friends with her, right? Maybe when Ladybug gets here, she can help you find him!"

Seamstress started laughing, but it wasn't Marinette's melodic, bell like laugh that Adrien had grown so fond of. This laughter was bitter, humorless. "Ladybug won't be coming today."

Adrien's heart dropped, and he prayed for Plagg to hurry up. "What do you mean?"

"Ladybug can't help me or you. She can't help anyone."

"Mari--Seamstress, what do you mean, she can't help anyone?" The sinking feeling in Adrien's stomach increased. Had Seamstress done the impossible and taken Ladybug's Miraculous? Or worse? 

Seamstress laughed humorlessly once again, tears still streaming down her face. "Don't you get it? She won't be coming because she's already here."Seamstress used both hands to push her fringe behind her ears, revealing a pair of familiar earrings, and a very frightened kwami on her shoulder. "Ladybug won't be coming because I am Ladybug!"

Adrien's whole world came crashing down around him. Marinette was Ladybug. That should have been a bigger surprise to him than it was, but it made sense. Marinette was one of the kindest, bravest people he had ever met, so why shouldn't she be Paris's heroine? What surprised and terrified him was that Ladybug/Marinette had somehow fallen into Hawkmoth's grasp and become akumatized. 

"Marinette, no," The little red kwami exclaimed, trying to hide herself from view. "Please, snap out of it, Marinette!"

It was Ladybug's kwami, no doubt horrified that her chosen wasn't in control of herself, and had just revealed herself to a civilian. Adrien had to put the Kwami at ease. There was no one else in the near vicinity, so likely no one else had heard the declamation. He was sure Ladybug had told him the name of her kwami before, now if only he could remember it……"Tikki!"

The kwami's eyes grew wide, and met his. She hesitantly came out from behind Seamstress's neck. He had to be quick. Seamstress was busy upending a small building.

"Tikki, please, you have to help me!"

The little red kwami took the opportunity and fluttered over to Adrien. "Cat Noir? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"So you _are_ okay, then!" The tiny being sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Where is Plagg?"

"He should be back soon. I didn't want to leave Marinette." Adrien struggled against the ribbons once again. "How did this happen?"

"After Cat Noir got hurt and disappeared, Ladybug looked for him, because he usually checked in after the cure. She couldn't find him. She was really worried, and she thought you were still badly hurt. Hawkmoth took advantage of that and akumatized her."

"She was that upset," Adrien muttered. He knew Ladybug cared about Cat Noir, but for her to get this upset over his disappearance… He didn't even know what to think. 

Adrien drew his eyes away from Seamstress if only for a moment. He scanned his surroundings, looking for a way out of his predicament. His eyes finally landed by a little black spot fluttering about below him. Finally, he thought. 

"Plagg!" He shouted. Normally he looked for a private place to do this, but he wasn't going to let Marinette stay akumatized. Besides, it wasn't fair for him to know who she was but not the other way around. Plagg's eyes met Adrien's, and he hoped that this would work from such a distance. "Transform me!"

The tiny black kwami shot up, into Adrien's ring. Adrien grinned as the transformation washed over him, dispite the fact that he was still restrained by Seamstress's ribbons. 

Unfortunately, Seamstress could not stay distracted forever. His transformation caught her attention, and Tikki hid behind the freshly transformed Cat Noir.   
Seamstress's hand came open, dropping Cat Noir to the ground like a hot potato. Seamstress let out another shriek, this time of panic, and she attempted to catch him. When he slipped through her fingers, he landed on his feet on the street below. 

"A-A-Adrien!" Seamstress's voice took on a very Marinette-like quality as she stuttered out his civilian name. The tiny girl fluttered down closer to the ground,  her eyes blown wide. "C-cat Noir is…Adrien is…You-you're not hurt?!"

"I'm fine, Seamstress." Cat Noir spoke calmly and quietly. He could see that the key to getting this akuma out of Marinette was to reassure her that he was alright. "After Ladybug took care of the last akuma, her Miraculous Cure took care of my injuries." He raised both of his arms and turned around. "See, no more injuries. Not even a little bruise."

Seamstress floated a bit closer to the ground at his words.

"The akuma is in her hair ribbons," Tikki whispered from Cat Noir's collar.

Cat Noir gave a slight nod.

"Why did you disappear?" Seamstress's electric blue eyes watered once again, "I couldn't find you, and I was afraid."

"I know," he said quietly. He held one gloved hand out to her. "But I'm here now."

Seamstress tentatively placed her hand in his, and her feet finally hit the ground. 

Cat Noir attempted to touch her hair ribbons, but a violet butterfly appeared, highlighting her eyes. As she listened to Hawkmoth in her head, the tears ran in her eyes once more. She began to shake her head. "I can't do that."

She winced for a moment, then suddenly doubled over in pain. She let out her loudest shriek yet as Hawkmoth manipulated her mind. 

Cat Noir had to work quickly. He couldn't let Marinette be in pain, especially not when this was all his fault to begin with. Seamstress lifted her head slightly and met Cat Noir's eyes. Her own were bloodshot. Her mask smeared even further from the tears. Her face was red not with a blush but with the strain. He could see Marinette in there, begging for help.

"Cat Noir, you have to do something," Tikki shouted at him. "Hawkmoth is hurting her, and she can't get away from him!"

Cat Noir did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed both ribbons, ripped them out of her hair, and tore them to pieces using his claws. The shredded ribbon fell to the ground. As soon as the shreds hit the street below, Seamstress's shriek came to a stop as Hawkmoth's control loosened. She fell fully to her knees. A tiny black and violet butterfly escaped from the ribbon pieces. Cat Noir snagged it's wings between his fingers. As Hawkmoth's control fell away completely, Seamstress's costume faded away in a cloud of black, leaving Marinette in her place. 

She was confused, of course. Her hair fell loosely around her face, and her big, bluebell eyes stared up at him with more questions than he thought he had answers to. Part of Adrien wished that akuma victims didn't lose their memories as much as they did. It would make explaining things to Marinette easier. Another part of him was relieved. Marinette--Ladybug--they both had such a big heart, and he would hate for them--her to fully remember what it was like to fall under Hawkmoth's control. 

"Cat Noir," Marinette's voice came out smaller than he was used to hearing from her. "You're okay."

Cat Noir came to his knees beside her. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me anymore. How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright I guess." She averted her eyes. "What did I do? Is anyone hurt?"

"No, everyone was already evacuated from the last akuma. But I need to talk to you about some things, My Lady."

Marinette's hands came to cover her mouth. "Oh no. Did I--"

Cat Noir nodded. "I'm afraid so. And right now, as much as I'd like to sit and talk about it, I'm afraid I need some help from the other side of you to take care of a small complication." He gave a weary half-smile and held up the butterfly that was trying to escape his grasp.

Marinette nodded, her eyes taking on a serious light. Tikki popped up from behind Cat's collar, and fluttered over to Marinette's side. "We should get somewhere a little bit more private."

Cat Noir lifted Marinette into his arms, princess style (pun entirely intended), and jumped into the air. He carried her over a few buildings until they reached a small rooftop garden where they couldn't be spotted by any curious glances. He watched in awe as her transformation overtook her. He thought that Ladybug in the light of the Eiffel Tower at dusk was the most beautiful sight in the world, but he had been mistaken. It was Marinette, wrapped in the magical light of her kwami as she put her duty to Paris over her own confusion. 

Once it was Ladybug standing before him, Cat Noir released the akuma. She used her yoyo to purify the creature, then set the Miraculous Cure about the city. Once things were returned to normal, Cat Noir could finally breathe. 

He collapsed to his knees in the middle of the garden, his leather ears lying flat on the top of his head. "Oh my God."

He heard Ladybug collapse across from him, falling onto her bottom, legs splayed out. It was probably one of the least graceful things he'd seen from her since they first learned how to use their abilities. It brought a fond smile to his face. 

"So, I guess we have some things to talk about," he said. 

"Yeah, I think that would be good," Ladybug pushed her still loose locks back over her shoulder. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, you barely touched me. You were doing a lot of property damage, but nothing to be too worried about."

"Where did you come from? I don't even remember you showing up. I vaguely remember seeing someone…I think…Adrien was there? W-what happened to Adrien?"

"Well, that's actually part of what we need to talk about."

"Oh my God, I didn't hurt Adrien did I?!"

"No, no. He's fine. Actually," he took a deep breath, "he's right here."

"What do you mean?"

Cat Noir sighed. "I was there, but I couldn't find anything for my kwami to eat. I needed to keep an eye on you, so I sent Plagg to find something for himself as quickly as possible. When you told me you were Ladybug, I knew I had to work as quickly as possible. By the time Plagg got back, there wasn't even time to hide before I transformed. So basically," Cat Noir released his transformation, and then it was Adrien sitting in front of her. "here I am."

Ladybug's mouth was drawn in a hard line. She looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack, and Adrien began to wonder if he'd actually done the right thing. "Okay. I don't…I don't actually know how to process this right now. This is…wow, a lot to take in. But, the first thing we need to deal with is the obvious: Hawkmoth now knows both of our secret identities. This is going to put both of us into a pretty bad place, so we're going to have to be on guard twenty four seven."

"You're right. I knew revealing myself may not have been the smartest thing I've ever done, LB, but I'm not letting you deal with this on your own." He put his hand on her arm. "When we got into this, we did it together. We're a team. Things might be a bit…weird right now, but we're in this together."

Ladybug's hard eyes softened a little bit, and she seemed to relax marginally. "You're right," she nodded. "Together." She finally smiled. It was tense, and her eyes were filled with fear and discomfort, but she was smiling. Finally, she broke the tension and threw her arms around him. "We're in this together," she murmured into his shoulder. 

Adrien wrapped his arms around her back. They were both afraid, confused, not sure how to move forward, but it was clear from her embrace that they would get through it, because they had each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment your thoughts on the fic! Thank you for reading, and if you're interested, follow me on Tumblr! CrypticCravings!


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